You Belong With Me
by Kanika Meskhenet
Summary: It's Valentines Day and Shinichi is sent on a mystery hunt by his secret admirer. ShinxOC


This is a ShinichixOC story that my friend Alex (RemindsMeOfAWestsideStory) asked me to write for her in exchange for a KaitouxOC story that she wrote for me. So it all works out xP! I wrote this sometime around Valentine's Day, hence the theme of the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan or Tatsuha (she belongs to Alex), though I DO own Ayu Hinaka.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tatsuha found herself watching a certain messy-haired detective from across the room, the very boy that she had been hiding her feelings from for the past year or two of highschool. She had officially been introduced to Kudou Shinichi by her distant cousin Hinaka Ayu who she had recently (at the time atleast) reconnected with. It was from that moment on that she began to notice him in a different light, he was exceedingly attractive, witty, and had a good sense of humor. He was the type of guy any girl would die to get the chance to be with, she just wished he'd give her the time of day.

Her eyes lingered on the back of his head as he bragged to his childhood friend, Mouri Ran, from the row of seats in front of her. She tucked a stray strand of brunette hair behind her ear absently, biting her lip in concentration.

Valentine's day was coming up soon, the perfect time to show him how she felt. But she'd have to be clever about it, do something that nobody else had ever done before for him. Shinichi received chocolate galore from the other girls in their grade, so that was definitely out of the question, at least not in the usual way. She'd need to come up with some other way.

Pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose she whipped out her cell phone, holding it discreetly underneath her desk and searching her contacts for a certain amethyst eyed detective's number.

_Hey Ayu, I need ideas for a special Valentine's Day present. –Tatsuha_

She stared fixatedly at the LCD screen for a few minutes before it flashed with a reply.

_No problem, it's Shin-kun you need help with, yeah? _Tatsuha felt her cheeks heat up before she continued reading the text, _Well he's a mystery nerd like me, so leave him clues. He's a detective, he won't be able to resist. It'll be worth it, trust me. –Ayu_

Leave him clues? Like riddles? She thrust her phone back in to her pocket and quickly stuffed her books in to her messenger bag, the bell rang moments later and she was among the first out of the door. Tatsuha needed to plan.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Valentine's Day was by far one of Shinichi's favorite holidays. He was already one of the most popular guys at Teitan High and all the chocolates from nearly every girl in the school proved it, he enjoyed seeing the look on the other guys' faces when their girlfriends handed him their homemade candy. Kudou Shinichi wasn't conceited, if that's what you're thinking---kidding. He was the best at everything he did and he knew it.

He left the high school with a backpack full of homemade chocolates and a smug smirk pulling at the corners of his lips, Ran had stayed home sick, not that he really cared. She would've nagged him about all the valentines he had received anyhow, either that or karate chopped him. She was way too violent. Stupid woman.

Shinichi shifted the shoulder-strap of his book-bag, reaching in to his mailbox as soon as he made it to the front gate of the Kudou estate. He casually flipped through the bills until he came to a letter with no stamp or return address, just his name in neatly written cursive. That meant that whoever it was from had personally delivered it, his curiosity was peaked. Inside was a piece of notebook paper with a few lines of the same neat cursive handwriting.

_What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?  
Follow the answer to the T, where you will find number 2 of 3.  
-Mystery Admirer _

"Well this certainly is interesting," He smirked, "mystery admirer, eh? This should be fun."

The sapphire eyed detective made his way up to the house where he deposited his satchel of candies, sitting down in the study to mull over the riddle in the letter. He took up his usual thinking position, his feet firmly planted on the cushion of the chair while his knees pressed up against his chest with his hands clasped together as if he were praying.

"What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps---duh! A river!" His grin faltered, "But which river? There's more than one in Beika…"

He picked up the letter from the wooden coffee table and looked it over once again, maybe he missed something? _Follow the answer to the T, where you will find number 2 of 3._

"The second part obviously means that there are three riddles in all so once I find out which river it is and get there I'll get the second riddle which will lead me to the third which will lead me to whoever is setting this up." The 18 year old reasoned, stroking his chin in concentration, "Follow the answer to the T…wait…"

Shinichi jumped out of his seat and darted over to the far side of the study where his father's map of Japan was, glancing over the Beika city area. There was several rivers that ran through the city but only one was—

"That's it! _Follow the answer to the T_, refers to the shape of the river! The only river in Beika shaped like a T would be the Tansetsu River." The messy haired detective snatched his jacket off the coat rack and ran out of the house, making his way towards the river a little over a mile away.

He combed the area closest to the mouth of the river for nearly half an hour before he found it. Stapled to an old spruce tree was an envelope similar to the one he had received in the mail with his name in identical cursive handwriting. The adrenalin rushing through him pulsed through his veins, making him giddy with anticipation as he tore open the seal and pulled out the letter inside.

_I have clothes of brass and hair of brown.  
Seldom do I need to breathe.  
I don't need wings to fly.  
I have a heart of stone and fear fire and water. _

This one had him puzzled.

Shinichi walked idly over to the river and sat down on the sandy bank beside the running water, confusion setting in over the detective. His brain working in overdrive; trying to figure out the latest riddle.

"Seldom do I need to breath and no wings are needed to fly…" The first thing he thought of was an airplane but quickly dismissed the speculation. He sat there for almost an hour before the feeling of desperation began to set in over him, pulling out his cellphone he pressed a number on his speed dial.

"_Oi, Kudou!"_

"Heiji I need your help, I got these riddles from a secret admirer but I can't make heads or tails of this new one and I'm running out of time before it starts getting dark."

"_Ohh, Kudou and Mystery Girl sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N—"_

"Can you be serious for once, Hattori?" Irritation crept in to his smooth voice, a vein popping in his forehead at the childishness of his best friend.

"_Yeah, yeah sure. So what's the riddle?"_

"I have clothes of brass and hair of brown. Seldom do I need to breathe. I don't need wings to fly. I have a heart of stone and fear fire and water."

"_Whoa crazy stuff. But you're in luck! I've actually heard this one before, the answer is a submarine."_

"Explain, please?"

"_Alright, so the clothes of brass refer to the brass fittings of naval ships and the hair of brown is the seaweed that it moves through. Not needing to breathe, that one's obvious, submarines don't need to surface for quite some time. The way a submarine maneuver's underwater is often referred to as 'flying'. The heart of stone has to do with the uranium core in the reactor. And obviously if you're underwater you don't want a fire in the ship because it'd take up all the oxygen and you'd basically be screwed and…I hope that helped."_

"That…actually makes sense." Shinichi thought about it for a moment, "And they recently added a new submarine attraction to the Military Museum so that must be where the next riddle is! Thanks Hattori."

"_No problem Kudou, tell me how your date with this mystery chick plays out." _Hattori Heiji hung up with a teasing chuckle, leaving Shinichi to roll his eyes.

"Alright, Beika Military Museum it is." Pushing himself off of the sandy ground, the brown haired detective quickened his pace, the sun was beginning to set so he needed to find the next riddle and find whoever started this entire thing. The adrenalin pumped through him again at the prospect of solving this mystery, he was actually really enjoying himself. Normally the mysteries he was involved in had to do with murder, it was nice to solve something death-free.

Shinichi made it to the museum just as the guards were closing the gates, cursing under his breath.

"Excuse me sir, but I really need to get inside, I promise I'll be quick—"

"Are you Kudou Shinichi?" The man asked.

Confused, he tilted his head, "Yeah, I am..how'd you know?"

The man smiled kindly, "This was left for you by the submarine exhibit." He handed Shinichi the letter.

"Thanks a lot, old man." Shinichi grinned, hopping down the steps two at a time.

_I'm impressed, you really are as great as they all say  
With that said, it is coming to the end of the day  
You've made it this far, here is your last clue  
I lie where the sky's still shown blue  
And the garden lies thick with roses  
Be quick, before the café closes  
And I'm gone before this comes to an end  
It is a popular place, among the young it's a trend.  
Good luck, Kudou Shinichi, don't keep me waiting too long._

This one was different, it wasn't as vague and cryptic as the last two had been, it was like she was…giving him directions from where he was. Shinichi glanced up at the sky, it was dark purplish-blue where he was standing, glancing to the west he could see that as the sun was setting it was still a bluish-pink. He ran off towards the center of town where due to the particular holiday many of the shops were selling large bushels of roses. _And the garden lies thick with roses._ It wasn't a real garden, but due to the quantity of flower sellers it looked rather close to one.

Shinichi stood in the center of town, surrounded by different carts of people selling last minute flowers. His sapphire eyes found a little French café that he remembered Sonoko bragging about to Ran the other day, apparently _all_ the kids were going there for lunch now. _It's a popular place, among the young it's a trend._

"Bingo." He couldn't help but to feel rather accomplished at having figured this mystery out in record time, Shinichi pulled open the door and was taken a back by how crowded the place really was. No way would he be able to find who ever it was that he was searching for with so many people here!

"Bonjour monsieur! Do you have a reservation?" A cute blonde waitress bounced over to him, smiling.

"Uh, not exactly, but someone's waiting for me…I'm Kudou Shinichi."

Her face lit up in recognition and she nodded, "Right this way! You should be ashamed, that poor girl has been waiting her for hours!"

Shinichi ran a hand through his shaggy locks, his eyes locking on to a pair eyes the color of warm chocolate. He recognized her instantly as a girl from his class, the cute quiet girl from the back of the room, named Tatsuha. A charming smile pulled at the corners of his lips as he took the seat across from her, watching as a light tinge of pink dusted over her cheeks.

"Sorry I kept you waiting, Tatsuha." He cooed, leaning across the table a little to take her delicate hands in his, "You are by far the most clever girl I have ever met. Most girls make chocolates for their guy on Valentines, but you, you used what I loved the most to bring me to you."

"I wasn't sure you'd actually come…" She bit her lip.

Shinichi tilted his head to the side, "Don't be silly, you kept me guessing, had me on my toes the entire time, I like a girl who is not only obscenely cute but also able to appeal to the mystery-loving geek in me. Tatsuha, you're amazing."

She blushed a deep scarlet, her eyes watering from sheer happiness. Tatsuha ran a nervous hand through her dark chestnut hued hair; Shinichi had just complimented her, had pretty much implied that she was perfect for him! She had to have been dreaming, no way that Shinichi—Kudou fucking Shinichi—was sitting across from her saying such things to her!

"I never thought that you'd—" Tatsuha met his eyes, "I feel childish admitting this like this but…I've liked you ever since Ayu introduced you to me and I've admired you from afar for years—but I'm not a creeper.."

He laughed, a melodious sound that made goosebumps run up Tatsuha's arms, "Wow, to be completely honest I've always found you attractive. But I never knew what you were thinking, most girls fawn over me like some celebrity, but you…you always kept to yourself and I could never tell whether you were interested or not."

"Oh…I never really have much to say, especially in class so I don't even bother." She shrugged, "Half of the people in there are idiots that aren't even worth conversing with."

"Hear, hear!" He grinned, "I hope I don't fall in that category…"

Her eyes widened in panic, "N-no, no! You don't, I didn't mean to—"

Shinichi chuckled, "I was kidding, Tatsu-chan."

He leaned forward a bit more, bringing a hand up to caress her face. Tatsuha nuzzled in to his touch, closing her eyes and enjoying the moment. Shinichi closed the distance, capturing her lips with his own in a slow rhythm of ecstasy. He had finally met a girl who could keep him on his toes, she was definitely one in a million and he wasn't planning on letting her go any time soon.


End file.
